Days Gone By
by CriMin
Summary: The "Fire Killer" has returned after 3 years of absence. Why is he back? What is his motive? All this the B.A.U. couldn't reveal as the case was closed. Erin Strauss add another agent to get the killer. But he's secretive. Can they prevent new victims?


**Prologue**

_Fire. Fire everywhere.  
Where should she go now? What should she do? The whole first floor was burning and consequently there was no escape from the burning house. She quickly jumped up and ran to a window. But even there, a flame flashed up and she backed away, scared. Harried she looked around when she suddenly heard a moan from a smoke-filled room next door. There was another person in the house? She had thought ...  
She hastily ran into the next room. Everything was full of smoke and it was hard to imagine that anyone could still be alive. Anyway, it was so: She got quite frightened when she recognized the person who lied on the floor, deceasing.  
„No. No!", she immediately alighted next to her fellow sufferer to her knees. Blood flowed from his abdomen. She knew that he wouldn't live for a long time, but she couldn't believe it. The flames around them seemed at once more threatening than before. „He said you'd be left alive. He said if I die, you would live."  
„That was a lie...", he gasped. „Please... just go... save yorself..."  
Suddenly a beam fell down behind her - and blocked therewith her escape route. Where she would flee to, were able to escape? Now?  
„No, I...", she started to cough heavily. Now they would probably die together. „The way is... *cough*... blocked. Besides..."  
But then she noticed a change in his facial expression. He stared at the ceiling glassily, no emotion was visible. He was dead.  
"No!", she screamed in fits of coughing before she collapsed._

**Chapter 1 – The Case**

_Hippocrates once said, "What the drugs don't heal, heals the knife. What the knife doesn't heal, heals the fire. "___

Derek Morgan hurried through the corridors of the headquarters. Exceptionally, he overslept and hastened to Aaron Hotchner's office who had ordered him to bureau. He had no idea what it was to go this time, but since JJ, the compound of the BAU to the media, had been redeployed, the team had become much smaller and it was missing something. Yes, he admitted, he missed her, after all, she had been a good friend and colleague and they had experienced a lot in common.  
Absorbed in thought, Agent Morgan trotted up the stairs, past Strauss' office, from which he took little notice. Erin Strauss was the supervisor of Hotch and was very career-oriented. As a result she seemed unsympathetic and he couldn't deny that he felt it so, too. But in the FBI were many who were career-oriented and wanted to show more political good, so Strauss was no exception.  
He was pulled from his thoughts when he suddenly bumped into someone. Morgan looked up surprised and saw an unfamiliar female. She seemed to have been absorbed in a record and had earplugs in her ears. Also surprised they took off her headphones and looked at him apologetically from slightly dreamy, gloriously blue eyes.  
"Excuse me, Agent. I... I haven't noticed you.", she apologized to him and stayed unsure in front of Morgan. She apparently didn't know what she should do now. Lightly uptight she clutched her file and her MP3 player, what from the agent concluded that the pretty brunet probably hadn't been in external work of the FBI till now.  
"No problem! I'm not paying attention either. Do you want to anyone in particular? Maybe I could help you.", he smiled to the unknown agent which subsequently relaxed a bit.  
"Yes, but I find the way. Thank you.", she smiled at him tentative and went past him. Morgan looked after her short-time. He was not used to be ditched so willy-nilly. Then he noticed the glances of his colleagues who were sitting at their desks and who were either smililng or shooking their heads.

'Oh great, I have to listen to a lot of things afterward.', Morgan thought and rolled mentally his eyes as he occurred to him that Hotch was still waiting.

Laughing gently Emily Prentiss, who had watched the spectacle between Morgan and the other agent as well, stooped again over her report, but actually she didn't want to write more. Thank God, she was interrupted at this moment by Garcia, the technical analyst of the B.A.U.. She also had seen the previous scene.  
"For once Derek suffered a rebuff?"  
"Looks like it. Happened to him not so often. But it's pretty amusing." Grinned back Emily. "But what's up, Garcia?"  
"I have a new case for you. Or I should say an old case? We're going to meet in 5 minutes in the conference room.", she said. Emily took out her cell phone and sent a text message to Hotch, Morgan, Reid and Rossi about the new case.  
"Do you know who this agent was?", Prentiss asked typing and stood up after she was done. Together they walked towards the conference room.  
"No, but I also know not all agents of the FBI. Perhaps she's a new inductee.", Garcia said reasoning. "Or she hasn't a crush on men. After all, Derek is very hot."_**  
**_"It'sworth considering. But I don't think that we ever will get a response.", abruptly she stopped to talk about this issue because Hotch and Morgan came on to the two and Hotch seemed not to be very happy this morning. Together they entered the conference room and sat down except Garcia who had to present her colleagues the new case. Unfortunately, they could not start because Reid was still missing. Normally, the youngest of the team was always on time and that's why Emily was surprised by his absence. In fact he was arrived in the morning,but then he was again disappeared. All other of her colleagues looked at the door when Hotch coughed suddenly.  
"Then I use the waiting time for Reid to make an announcement.", with this words he has got the curiosity of all his colleagues and gained the attention of them. "Strauss will show up right here and she want..."  
"The announcement you can save, Agent Hotchner.", Hotch's supervisor suspended the unit chief. Part respectful, part angry Emily and the others looked at Strauss, because she had the audacity to interrupt Hotch. Emily observed that he was even relieved slightly. He nodded to her and even crossed his arms.  
"What's now?", Morgan murmured, looking at Strauss challenging, but she simply ignored him.  
"For this case you will be assigned another agent. She had already done previously with the offender andwill be definitely helpful for you. "  
Emily suddenly figured out why Hotch had looked so out of humor this morning: He had been simply ignored in the selection of agents for the B.A.U. and he had promised to JJ that she would not be replaced. That hadn't even mean that the gain had to be incompetent or inexperienced. It was solely because Strauss had ruled over him if the team needed strengthening or not. Emily also had to admit that she was not a huge fan of the idea to get gain. The team was well balanced, as it was now.  
"Come in, Agent. May I introduce? This is Special Agent Laura Cyren. She was redeployed here from the Pentagon and is a specialist in kidnapping and interrogation techniques.", while she spoke, a young woman had entered. Emily couldn't believe it: It was the same agent who had bumped into Morgan. He seemed to have noticed that, too, and shooked his head in disbelief. Garcia looked just as shocked, but rather she probably hoped that the new agent would never learn from their discussion. Emily would certainly say nothing, after all, this would be embarrassing. Only Rossi and Hotch looked at the new agent friendly and interested.  
"Good day, Agent Cyren. I'm Aaron Hotchner and this is my team, the agents Rossi, Morgan, Prentiss and Garcia. Please sit down."  
"Thank you, Agent Hotchner. I'm pleased to meet you.", she replied politely and sat down on the seat next to Rossi. Hotch sat down beside her.  
"You have to incorporate in a new case. I'll leave you alone. I hope you get used to this quickly, Agent Cyren."  
"Yes, Ma'am.", Cyren answered, without looking to Strauss. Apparently, she cherished a slight grudge against Hotch's supervisor at the moment what she made a little sympathetic towards Emily. Or she had simply re-absorbed in the file. Strauss left the room and closed the wooden door behind her.  
"Where exactly is our genius", Morgan asked who apparently was recovered himself.  
"No idea, but let's start now, anyway. Garcia.", Hotch gave his statement and the technical analyst nodded.  
"Three years ago were four different fires in New York. Always a couple has been burned and the bodies were found always the same way." They showed a picture on the plasma screen. There two black, unidentifiable, intertwined bodies were seen.  
"Well, you could probably identify only with difficulty." Prentiss said disgusted easily. "Why should we look into this old case?"  
"We believe the Fire Killer has started again. Just four days ago it has also been a fire with exactly the same characteristics as three years ago."  
"But why he simply stopped and then starts again after three years?", asked Morgan a question that interested all in the room. Emily thought for a moment, but she couldn't think of a good explanation.  
"At his last fire something has gone wrong.", the new one began. Apparently she knew more about the case, as it was in the files, but she was still nervous. "His last selected victims escaped the fire. But no one could identify him because he wore a mask."  
"If this is so, we should speak again with the victims. It could be that the offender tries to kill them again.", Rossi interjected and looked seriously into the round. "Victim statements are always very useful..."  
But he was suspended like Hotch, but this time it wasn't Strauss who interrupted. The youngest of the team had come rushing in and out of breath. Surprised all looked at Reid.  
"Sorry, I had to do something else. It will not happen again, Hotch.", he apologized quickly. But he seemed to have noticed Cyren who had looked up very surprised when she heard his voice. Slowly, she turned around and looked into Reid's face.  
"Spencer? Is that you?", she askedincredulously, as if she could hardly believe it. Also he seemed to recognize her. Emily was just as surprised as the rest except of Hotch who had nothing to say, as always. Rossi had pulled even interested his eyebrows.  
"Laura?", Reid asked uncertainly, but the young woman had already jumped up and had hugged him. What was amazing that Reid hugged her back. Otherwise he was a rather distant man. Quickly the two broke apart again. "What are you doing here?"  
"I work... um... with you at this case."

She had apparently noticed that they were observed and blushed visibly as Prentiss assessed amused.  
"We know each other from an old case.", Reid said and sat on the last empty chair. The new agent went back to her seat and listened silently.  
"Now all are there, so we can continue. These are the last victims. Taylor O'Bannion, 35 years old, unmarried and lived in Washington, DC." A pretty brunette woman with a gentle and yet somehow challenging looks at the team from the screen. "This is Willian Tanner, 30 years old, single and he lived in Washington, too." A serious young man with short hair and glasses appeared on the screen. Emily looked at the other victims of three years ago in her file. They had similar characteristics as the new victims. There was clearly a victimology.  
"Then he changed his area. From New York to Washington. Why did he simply changes his comfort zone?", Morgan concluded and looked thoughtful fto the plasma screen.  
"That's what we'll find out.", Hotch said, standing up. "We meet in half an hour on the plane."


End file.
